Holiday In The Park

First time attending the Holiday In The Park and I thought it wasn’t too shabby. There were a lot of families with their kids and pets walking around, just enjoying their early Christmas celebration.
A few stores were giving out goodies, including hot chocolate, candies, cookies, popcorn and etc. Coffee shops, like Romancing the Bean
had a group performing christmas melodies for those who came to visit. A couple of clothing stores, like Encore Nouveau
, Audrey K
, Free Bird
.
Lots of entertainment on the streets and teenagers wandering around stores and candy shops. I think they might have to think about children’s safety if the streets are going to be used by vehicles during the events, just to be safe. Other than that, I hope most people kept warm and enjoyed themselves.

I’m really not sure what’s going on with the annual Holiday in the Park on Magnolia in recent years but this year’s event was far from festive. In fact it was downright disappointing.
I attended my first Holiday in the Park back in 2010 and had a blast; store merchants along Magnolia Blvd. came out in full force. The entire street was blocked off allowing people to wander around without worrying about street traffic. The street blockage allowed the chorus holiday train to go up and down the boulevard to promote holiday spirit to those who attended. Free hot chocolate, hot coffee, and holiday goodies were there for the taking at every turn. Everybody was having fun and were enjoying the street scene.
Last year’s event was nowhere near what it was in 2010. Fewer merchants got involved and Magnolia Blvd. was not blocked off. Though there were many participants, street traffic was a concern. Having that many people attending a single event would most likely have people traffic flowing into the streets. Still it was fun; merchants came out to greet people and offered sweet treats and drink. However something significant was missing.
I attended the 2012 Holiday in the Park yesterday after many weeks of anticipation and unfortunately was let down. The festive mood was gone with only a handful of merchants got involved. Even the popular Porto’s Bakery didn’t seem to be in it this time around. The only store that was trying to be festive was the newly opened Romancing the Bean with its’ live music. Christmas carolers were there but only sang sporadically. Obviously something was wrong since not many people attended.
Personally I was disappointed. There could be a budget cut or too many complaints (not likely) that caused this downward spiral. I have to give props to those merchants that did participate and tried to instill the holiday spirit but it was way too few of them this time around.
I’m not sure if this Holiday in the Park will continue next year but I’ll be looking into other holiday festivites to attend. That’s too bad.